Most schools are starting way too early

Studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control for Prevention, or CDC, say that teenagers in America are not getting enough sleep due to the fact that most middle and high schools are starting classes way too early in the morning. According to the CDC, less than twenty percent of schools start classes at the recommended start time of 8:30 A.M. or later, which is causing many teens to not get enough sleep. Only one out every three American teenagers gets at least eight hours of sleep per night, the minimum recommended number of hours of sleep. Although most experts would suggest that these teens should simply go to sleep earlier instead of complaining about the early school times, CDC epidemiologist Anne Wheaton and her team were quick to counter this and back up the tired teenagers. “In puberty, biological rhythms commonly shift so that adolescents become sleepy later at night and need to sleep later in the morning. These biological changes are often combined with poor sleep hygiene (including irregular bedtimes and the presence of televisions, computers, or mobile phones in the bedroom),” Wheaton’s team wrote. This deadly combination of early school start times and troubles with falling asleep early lead to many teens struggling with sleep deprivation throughout the country. Too little sleep among teens leads to a higher risk of obesity, depression, poor grades in school, and even drug use.

Although it is widely accepted that schools are starting too early, no one seems to be doing anything about it. In fact, as you have all probably heard, our new school next year, Green Level High, will begin fifteen minutes earlier than this year at 7:10 A.M., almost an hour and a half before the recommended start time. This should be changed in the future as middle and high school students all over the country are growing exhausted of always being exhausted.